Users of a removable wireless communication device (RWCD) may plug in the RWCD in a network device (ND) to allow the network device to provide network connectivity to other hosts through the ND. When the RWCD is plugged into the ND, the ND tries to communicate with the RWCD by using, for example, a device driver. When the ND is able to communicate with the RWCD, the ND then instructs the RWCD to establish a wireless network connection. Therefore, the ND can then connect to other hosts through the RWCD. There are many types of RWCDs, including LTE modem, 3G modem, WiFi modem, WiMAX modem, Zigbee modem, Bluetooth modem and different wireless protocol modems. The RWCD connects with the ND through an electrical interface, including parallel connection, serial connection, USB, PCI, Firewire and Thunderbolt. Two of the most known RWCDs are Vodafone Internet Stick and T-Mobile webConnect USB 3G Modem. A user, for example, can plug in the 1-Mobile webConnect USB 3G Modem into a USB port of a ND, such as a router, and configure the router to use the T-Mobile webConnect USB 3G Modem for establishing wide area network connection.
A RWCD has an identity, such as International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Media Access Control (MAC) address and/or a telephone number. The identity may also be associated with a user account and/or a user profile.
A user may use the same RWCD with different ND at different times. For example, the user may use the RWCD with an office ND when the user is in office, and may use the RWCD with a home ND when user is at home.
A ND may be used to connect with different RWCDs at different time. For example, the ND is connected with a first RWCD in the morning and connected with a second RWCD in the afternoon. A ND may also be connected with a plurality of RWCDs at the same time.
As a user may have his/her own preference settings when using his/her own RWCD with a ND, it is inconvenient for the user to configure the ND every time when a different RWCD is connected into the ND. The user may have different policy settings for the same RWCD when connecting to different NDs. Similarly an administrator of a ND may need to configure policy settings of the ND according to RWCDs connected to. This may consume a lot of the administrator's resources especially when the number of possible RWCDs that can be connected to the ND is large.